Bloggers, link to your RSS feed (and how-to make one)

I noticed an important point for bloggers rolling by on my Twitter:

So many blogs out there without RSS subscribe links anywhere on their site, like building a house with no roads leading to it

— Eric Siebert (@ericsiebert) October 17, 2014

I was left saying “of course! It’s incredibly important to make subscription easy if you want an active readership.”

Then I realized I’ve been without an RSS link since my latest theme update. The irony! I needed a remedy quick and realized simple is better than complicated in this case. Here’s an easy how-to to make sure you never go without again, no matter how much your blog theme changes.

Note that I’m assuming we’re talking WordPress.org sites given their dominance. If you use another platform, let me know how to do similar on yours below.

1. Figure out your RSS feed URL

If you run a WordPress-based theme, {site}/feed/ is likely your URL. If you want to be totally sure, use an RSS subscription site to confirm it. I stick to Digg Reader these days, so let me show you how.

Enter your blog URL in the bottom left corner. It will offer a few options for you to subscribe. I want to link to the blog posts directly, so I chose the http://neckbeardinfluence.com/feed/ address listed.

2. Setup the Menu

You have the URL, so now what? For many new-to-Wordpress, you may not know where to enter it in.

There are many hidden-in-plain-site features of your WordPress blog that you blow right by every time you post. The Menus area in Appearance is definitely one of these.

Next: add the RSS to your Menu.

You’ll want to make sure you go in the order described below or you may add it to a menu that you’re not using.

If you save the menu and still don’t see it as active, be sure to verify that you’re using that menubar specifically. In the themes I’ve used, that’s been visible in Appearance > Customize > Navigation.

I hope that helps you keep a consistent place for people to follow up on your posts. If you’re interested in learning a lot more about RSS feeds, there’s a great beginner post out there.